55 Mile Per Hour Limit coming back?

[Swalker]

Re: 55 Mile Per Hour Limit coming back?

I bet CB radios will make a come back if the 55MPH returns.

[farmbird]

Re: 55 Mile Per Hour Limit coming back?

It would be nice if we could just the illegal imigrants to get up to 55mph in Calif. Most of them drive without a license or insurance and go slow to avoid getting pulled over.

[HKS]

Re: 55 Mile Per Hour Limit coming back?

Gas savings,
Sometimes you have to decide whether to stop or proceed at a yellow light.
I am thinking it is better to gun it at a yellow light rather than wait 3 minutes for the next green light if you are driving a V8 like my Chrysler that gets 12MPG in town. Some of the trafic lights around here are Green 5 seconds one way and Grenn 3 minutes the other way.
I am trying to avoid these lights.
HKS

100 MI /18 MPG = 5.56 GAL BURNED TO MOVE YOUR CAR 100 MILES
100 MI/ 23 MPG = 4.35 GAL BURNED TO MOVE YOUR CAR 100 MILES
assumes no idling time.

You need to look at distance not time, now if you get stuck for a couple of train crossings and a traffic back up all bets are off

[HKS]

Re: 55 Mile Per Hour Limit coming back?

I wonder what the actual savings would be when you consider runing the AC and all other accessories for a longer period of time in July/August?

HKS

100 MI /18 MPG = 5.56 GAL BURNED TO MOVE YOUR CAR 100 MILES
100 MI/ 23 MPG = 4.35 GAL BURNED TO MOVE YOUR CAR 100 MILES
assumes no idling time.

You need to look at distance not time, now if you get stuck for a couple of train crossings and a traffic back up all bets are off

[My Raven]

Re: 55 Mile Per Hour Limit coming back?

Me neither.
Just a warning for any of you heading north to Savannah on I-95...Officer "bubba" sure loves speeders around Darien, Ga. Watch out!

No worries, Princess ... The Escort Laser and Radar Detector is our friend!

[Johnny TBird]

Re: 55 Mile Per Hour Limit coming back?

I agree with Andy....it's all about speed traps and fines paid to the local Justice Of The Peace Judges (that set their own fine cost) in these small towns you pass throught.

Happy Trails

[BJHEN]

Re: 55 Mile Per Hour Limit coming back?

Just heard on the news that one of our federal legislators is proposing a reinstatement of the 55 Mile Per Hour limit on highways to conserve fuel.

Bronzebird

In the '80's & 90's I was a salesman. I covered about one-half of Texas and piled up lots of miles each year. I was paid a commission only and paid my own expenses. The more clients I could see each day, the more selling time I had, e.g., more commissions.

At one point I calculated the extra selling time I got each day by driving 70 mph instead of 55. Based on my average commission earned on each sales call, I figured I could drive 70 and pay the fines and still be ahead money wise. I never calculated the difference in gas milage as I didn't see that expense as a factor - I drove a diesel and bought fuel in Mexico for .17 cents a gal. If I remember correctly I was getting about 36 MPG.

OOPS! Forgot to figure in the cost of speeding fines and after about a year I had to pay a lawyer to keep from losing my driver's license. He saved my license but I was on probation for one year - if I got another ticket, for anything, I would lost my license.

After that episode I purchased an Escort radar detector. Never got a ticket when using it!

Guess it's time to dig the Escort out of the closet.

Cliff

[Chuck]

Re: 55 Mile Per Hour Limit coming back?

All I can say is -- That would suck!!

[Bird03]

Re: 55 Mile Per Hour Limit coming back?

This thread has got me to start thinking about this in a different light.

I understand that fuel savings is based on distance and has nothing to do with time traveled.

The interesting theory is that there could be less wear and tear on the car if you consistently traveled the same distances in less time by going faster thereby decreasing the amount of time the engine is in use. Since the investment in a new car far outweighs the price of fuel that you put in the car, if you decrease the useful life of a car then the savings in fuel costs might not make up for the extra depreciation on the car.

Might be tough to prove this theory, but it is already acknowledged that when you pay extra money to buy a hybrid over a conventional car, it takes a very long time to pay off the added investment with fuel cost savings.

[Icebluebird]

Re: 55 Mile Per Hour Limit coming back?

I've noticed in the Sacramento, CA area, that the higher the gas prices are, the slower people drive!!!!!

I would estimate that at least 75% are driving the speed limit (65) or below. I'll bet the CHP is stunned!

It used to be that if you drove less than 70 you had to be in the slow lane or you would get run over!

I guess the pocketbook counts more than speed????

[bronzebird]

Re: 55 Mile Per Hour Limit coming back?

This thread has got me to start thinking about this in a different light.
I understand that fuel savings is based on distance and has nothing to do with time traveled.
The interesting theory is that there could be less wear and tear on the car if you consistently traveled the same distances in less time by going faster thereby decreasing the amount of time the engine is in use. Since the investment in a new car far outweighs the price of fuel that you put in the car, if you decrease the useful life of a car then the savings in fuel costs might not make up for the extra depreciation on the car.
Might be tough to prove this theory, but it is already acknowledged that when you pay extra money to buy a hybrid over a conventional car, it takes a very long time to pay off the added investment with fuel cost savings.

Here is another thought on this one.
If the engine runs longer at 55 mph than at higher speeds to achieve the same travel distance, it sounds reasonable to assume that there will be more pollution generated. If someone could come up with a formula that establishes the point at which pollution generated exceeds the fuel savings one could have an argument that may change some minds that a federally mandated lower limit is a good thing.
Just a thought.
Bronzebird

[Prairie360]

Re: 55 Mile Per Hour Limit coming back?

There are much better ways the government can get involved if feels it has to do something to aid fuel consumption. Hey State of New York, try this little common sense approach.. Synchronize traffic signals to get a more even flow of traffic, cut down on the wasted idling times. As a side benefit, it may even cut down on the number of traffic accidents. Know why it won't happen?

BECAUSE IT MAKES SENSE!

[louhari]

Re: 55 Mile Per Hour Limit coming back?

By car faster uses more fuel is true. But by jet is another thing. Back in 1974 when Nixon mandated 55 MPH he also lowered the speed of Air Force 1 by 200 MPH from around 600 MPH to 400 MPH. Planes fuel usage is figured by the hour. Didn't take long and the Goverment figured out that at the lower speeds the plane was in the air hours longer and was using more fuel. It wasn't 30 days and Air Force One was back up to speed.

Wow. Didn't know he did that. That would put AF 1 crusing at about 0.5 mach if in fact it could fly that slow at altitude. Bet the Air Traffic Controllers had fun with that. In addition to giving air space priority, they would have had to vector the normal 0.8 mach traffic off the jet routes. Kind of like giving traffic priority to someone driving 35 MPH on the D.C. beltway.

[04Green w/ Envy]

Re: 55 Mile Per Hour Limit coming back?

A couple of years ago in Atlanta, the students at GA Tech conducted an experiment by driving 55 MPH in all lanes on I 285 (outer belt around the city). It took hours to get traffic back to normal (if that condition exists in Atlanta!) With the number of cars using the roads in Atlanta, the roads can't physically hold all the cars that want to use the road at 55 mph. I am sure other cities would experience the same thing. So you would burn more gas idling in gridlock which is harder on the engines and possibly create even more pollution. Don't have any answers ... but then again what is coming out of DC is more like noise pollution than solution

[Daktari]

Re: 55 Mile Per Hour Limit coming back?

Hi there,

I would say I tend to drive around 80 m.p.h. on the interstates,like most of us, just going with the flow most of the time.

However, driving back yesterday from our weekend away, I decided to see if I could drive around 70 m.p.h. most of the way. I must say, in the T-bird with the top down it was a much more relaxed experience, Rachel enjoyed it more and I think it was a lot less tiring for me driving. On top of that, I guess I was using a bit less gas as well. Once in a while I would put my foot down to pass a slow moving truck then gently back down to 70 m.p.h.

It does take a while to get used to driving 10 m.p.h. slower but I have decided from now on to try and stick to this and just be laid back and relaxed. I would rather arrive somewhere 15-30 mins later feeling relaxed rather than rush all the way and get there feeling tired out. The T-bird is a cruiser afterall and not a fully blown sports car.

We don't have to prove how fast it can go, let's face it, most modern cars, Toyota Corollas, Honda Civics, Ford Focus. They can all drive at 90 m.p.h. for hours on end and I'm sure a lot of them do. It just seems that the amount of concentration and alertness needed for every increase in 10 m.p.h. is not worth the effort, the added risk and the added expense.

I really am going to try to slow down a little and enjoy the pleasures of travelling in such a nice cruisin car as the Retro T-bird.

Gordon.